Freiburg, cont.
9. Mai
Happy Europe Day everybody!
I just gave a presentation on India to a group of seventeen German retirees and adult learners. Well, half a presentation, since I thought I was supposed to go two hours when I was actually only allotted 90 minutes--I'll have to finish up next week when they meet again. Either way, I'm feeling pretty impressed with myself, considering that just a week ago, I knew next to nothing about India, and considering that I somehow had to stretch my passive vocabulary into activity in order to explain some of the more complex economic concepts. Pat on the back to myself (and thanks to Concordia Language Villages for making me what I am today). Let's just hope I can pull it off again next week...
7. Mai
How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light of the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours.
2. Mai
Visited prison today and sat in on a politics class led by a (paid) high school teacher who taught a group of about seven men. Was pretty underwhelmed by the subject matter and teaching style, but was pleased to be back in [prison] and had to think of [garrecht], of course. It's remarkable that these inmates were SO similar to the ones back home at NCF: astute, exuberant, critical thinkers, often with an odd mix of juvenility and gravitas. As a teacher, it is absolutely the most gratifying and cushy job you can imagine--to the point where it seems sort of self-serving. I miss it.
1. Mai (aka "Maitag")
As I was coming home in the Strassenbahn, an older man with a cane hobbled into the car I was in, looked around a bit, and then seemed to want to take the seat next to me. I had my feet up and dangling oddly on the banister and my bag sitting on the seat next to me, so I shifted around to make room for him, he said "thanks", and I continued reading about how flat the world is (by Thomas L. Friedman). During the ride, he kind of looked over, almost like he was trying to figure out what I was reading, but I was engrossed and didn't take the opportunity to engage in a conversation. The man got out two stops before me, and as the train was pulling to a halt, he reached into his pocket, grabbed a lemon candy, plopped it onto my lap, and said "thanks for making room for me--have a nice evening". The best I could do was stammer out a feeble "uh, thanks, you too". Hmm. That was beautiful. And he sort of looked like Santa Claus.
23. April
Romantic awkwardness: shaving your legs by candlelight in a 2' x 2' shower.
Contentment: good music, a warm evening, gliding home in the Strassenbahn, and the prospect of a new grammar waiting to be mastered (Turkish).
Potential for loss: springtime, a bike, and city of 200,000 residents with too many nooks and crannies for its own good.
19. April
"Rate yourself on each of the following traits as compared with the average person your age:
Humility - [X]highest 10% [ ]above average [ ]average [ ]below average [ ]lowest 10% "
Hmmm... I feel like an (oxy)moron.
4. April
Was getting all stressed out earlier today about the upcoming journey to Morocco when I realized that it's been a while since I'd engaged in a little omphaloskepsis to help me re-center and find my xi. After one cathartic hour of staring at my belly button, I'm now ready to tackle the world.
(P.S. I'm not actually stressed in the least--I just needed to fabricate a context that would fit my new, ridiculous vocabulary word.)
Morocco or bust!
31. March
Thank god I passed through middle school in such a blissful state of nerdy oblivion. It's easy enough to avoid being tormented by fashion and popularity issues when you don't realize there ARE such a things as fashion and popularity. Now that I have become an enlightened adult, however, I realize: somebody needs to tell the teenage boys here than puffy nylon jackets with fur on the hood are a BAD fashion decision. I'm just too intimidated by them to be a good samaritan here.
29. March
I just turned down a joint so that I could finish the paper I've been procrastinating for a week. I'm certainly not a pothead, but I still feel lame about this. Mainly because never in my life have I been such a shameless procrastinator.
18. March
Radtour to Strasbourg with [orourkej] and [scharrma]. 95 kilometers later and we're still alive! I've abandoned my bike in town, though, and don't think I'll be able to look at it again for another few days.
14. March
Major pet peeve of mine: when the Germans cleverly slip the phrase "last not least" (or any other English phrase, for that matter) into their literature in a pitiful attempt to sound 'with it'. As in:
"Dieser Anstieg ist eine Folge der systematischen Nutzung von Wissenschaft und Technik zur Entwicklung der Produktivkraefte..., der sozialen Organisation der kapitalistischen Mehrwertproduktion und - last not least - des massiven Einsatzes fossiler Energietraeger zum Antrieb der Werkzeuge und Maschinen des Industriezeitalters."
I'm sure I'm not the only one to let out a resigned chuckle at the sight of this. This phrase DOES NOT exist in English--it's "last BUT not least", people. If you're going to shamelessly throw around Anglicisms and make yourself look like a sycophantic literary snob, at least do it properly. Otherwise, just stick to your own language. It worked for Goethe, and Kant, and Marx, and Nietzsche...
12. March
Beautiful weather. Not much incentive to work on papers. Today's realization: Ich bin eitel. How do you crush a bad habit?
Also, while procrastinating today, I randomly stumbled across a Fox News video headline online that helped reaffirm how truly insidious Fox can be. The video was about a young couple--"Christian camp counselors", of course--who were "brutally" shot to death in 2004 at "point blank range" (great mind-numbing buzzwords that they tended to emphasize a lot) while lying on a random beach somewhere. The news moderator posed the question that was on everyone's mind: "is it possible that they were murdered because of their Christian beliefs?" They then turned to "Fox News Criminal Analyst" Rod Wheeler (who, in a brilliantly calculated display of political correctness, was a member of a racial minority). Wheeler of course confirmed the alarming idea that this poor couple was hunted down because of their "strong Christian faith", citing the fact that driftwood with "satanic etchings" had been found near the murder site. In the interest of balance, they turned to a "Forensic Psychiatrist" who emphasized that it was possible but not definitive that the crime was religiously motivated, but by the time they got to him, all the good Christians had most likely turned off their televisions and entered their bunkers. I'm sorry if this seems like an offensive analysis, but the psychological manipulation here was just so thinly veiled that it's sickening. The only good news: Fox didn't go so far as to try to link the satanic etchings to Al Qaeda (aka "Saddam Hussein").
In other news, Barack Obama is a hypocritical lackey of the Chicago "political machine" (another buzzword) and a "left-of-center, doctrinaire liberal" (*cringe*). Just to prove how unbiased he is, the Chicago Tribune columnist they were interviewing, who was offering a "hometown perspective" on Obama, threw the senator a bone, saying that Obama "has mentioned ethics" at different points during his political career ("mentioned", mind you, but not necessarily "followed"). The implicit message, of course, is that Republicans are all free-thinking, ingenuous politicians who see it as their moral imperative to operate outside of the "political machine". I'm convinced.
7. March
In the interest of my own further education, I was able to attend two hearings today at the Amtsgericht. (I naturally thought of [kieffera] and all our tedious hours devoted to Mock.) Although I've never been party to any of the day-to-day goings on in American courtrooms, and although I imagine that even American hearings aren't nearly as glorious as TV and mock trial would have me believe, I did notice a few major differences in style while observing the continental legal system in action. The judges are far more active, pose questions, make a few jokes now and then, and are responsible for deciding not only the punishment, but also the facts of the case, as there is no jury. The hearings sort of devolved into a discussion between the judge, the state attorney, the defense attorney, and the expert witness. The burden of justice basically falls on the intellectuals in the courtroom. According to my law-student roommate, it is typical for German that a strong dialogue exists between academics and the legal profession. Another major trend is that they try to dole out fines and punishment based on the culprit's ability to pay. They ask a few questions about his income and expenses and from that, they end up assigning a daily sum of X amout to be paid off for Y number of days.
At one point, they had to decide on a condign punishment for a guy who'd (drunkenly?) crashed into a BMW at 4am on Christmas Eve morning. An approximate reproduction of the conversation between the judge and the state attorney (the defendant was, of course, present the whole time):
Judge: "Hmm. How does 1,000 euro sound?"
Attorney: "Yeah, that sounds reasonable."
Judge: "And then I suppose he can have his license back."
Attorney: "Right."
Judge (to defendant): "Does that sound all right to you?"
Defendant: "Sure."
As if that weren't enough excitement for one day, I was also in a "youth arrest facility" designed to carry out short-term rehabilitative arrest for sentences of up to four weeks. ([garrecht], I thought of you.) There were no metal detectors, they let us walk through with all of our backpacks, we had to dodge kids playing ping-pong and reading in the library. They even let the kids out alone to head to the dentist or hospital, if necessary. If someone flies the coop, they give him 24 hours and hope he decides to come back--only after the grace period is up do they call the police. The place was, admittedly, "the most liberal of this type of facility in Germany"--but still, I was stunned.
5. March
Menschenrechtsvertraeglichkeitspruefunge
Happy Europe Day everybody!
I just gave a presentation on India to a group of seventeen German retirees and adult learners. Well, half a presentation, since I thought I was supposed to go two hours when I was actually only allotted 90 minutes--I'll have to finish up next week when they meet again. Either way, I'm feeling pretty impressed with myself, considering that just a week ago, I knew next to nothing about India, and considering that I somehow had to stretch my passive vocabulary into activity in order to explain some of the more complex economic concepts. Pat on the back to myself (and thanks to Concordia Language Villages for making me what I am today). Let's just hope I can pull it off again next week...
7. Mai
How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light of the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours.
2. Mai
Visited prison today and sat in on a politics class led by a (paid) high school teacher who taught a group of about seven men. Was pretty underwhelmed by the subject matter and teaching style, but was pleased to be back in [prison] and had to think of [garrecht], of course. It's remarkable that these inmates were SO similar to the ones back home at NCF: astute, exuberant, critical thinkers, often with an odd mix of juvenility and gravitas. As a teacher, it is absolutely the most gratifying and cushy job you can imagine--to the point where it seems sort of self-serving. I miss it.
1. Mai (aka "Maitag")
As I was coming home in the Strassenbahn, an older man with a cane hobbled into the car I was in, looked around a bit, and then seemed to want to take the seat next to me. I had my feet up and dangling oddly on the banister and my bag sitting on the seat next to me, so I shifted around to make room for him, he said "thanks", and I continued reading about how flat the world is (by Thomas L. Friedman). During the ride, he kind of looked over, almost like he was trying to figure out what I was reading, but I was engrossed and didn't take the opportunity to engage in a conversation. The man got out two stops before me, and as the train was pulling to a halt, he reached into his pocket, grabbed a lemon candy, plopped it onto my lap, and said "thanks for making room for me--have a nice evening". The best I could do was stammer out a feeble "uh, thanks, you too". Hmm. That was beautiful. And he sort of looked like Santa Claus.
23. April
Romantic awkwardness: shaving your legs by candlelight in a 2' x 2' shower.
Contentment: good music, a warm evening, gliding home in the Strassenbahn, and the prospect of a new grammar waiting to be mastered (Turkish).
Potential for loss: springtime, a bike, and city of 200,000 residents with too many nooks and crannies for its own good.
19. April
"Rate yourself on each of the following traits as compared with the average person your age:
Humility - [X]highest 10% [ ]above average [ ]average [ ]below average [ ]lowest 10% "
Hmmm... I feel like an (oxy)moron.
4. April
Was getting all stressed out earlier today about the upcoming journey to Morocco when I realized that it's been a while since I'd engaged in a little omphaloskepsis to help me re-center and find my xi. After one cathartic hour of staring at my belly button, I'm now ready to tackle the world.
(P.S. I'm not actually stressed in the least--I just needed to fabricate a context that would fit my new, ridiculous vocabulary word.)
Morocco or bust!
31. March
Thank god I passed through middle school in such a blissful state of nerdy oblivion. It's easy enough to avoid being tormented by fashion and popularity issues when you don't realize there ARE such a things as fashion and popularity. Now that I have become an enlightened adult, however, I realize: somebody needs to tell the teenage boys here than puffy nylon jackets with fur on the hood are a BAD fashion decision. I'm just too intimidated by them to be a good samaritan here.
29. March
I just turned down a joint so that I could finish the paper I've been procrastinating for a week. I'm certainly not a pothead, but I still feel lame about this. Mainly because never in my life have I been such a shameless procrastinator.
18. March
Radtour to Strasbourg with [orourkej] and [scharrma]. 95 kilometers later and we're still alive! I've abandoned my bike in town, though, and don't think I'll be able to look at it again for another few days.
14. March
Major pet peeve of mine: when the Germans cleverly slip the phrase "last not least" (or any other English phrase, for that matter) into their literature in a pitiful attempt to sound 'with it'. As in:
"Dieser Anstieg ist eine Folge der systematischen Nutzung von Wissenschaft und Technik zur Entwicklung der Produktivkraefte..., der sozialen Organisation der kapitalistischen Mehrwertproduktion und - last not least - des massiven Einsatzes fossiler Energietraeger zum Antrieb der Werkzeuge und Maschinen des Industriezeitalters."
I'm sure I'm not the only one to let out a resigned chuckle at the sight of this. This phrase DOES NOT exist in English--it's "last BUT not least", people. If you're going to shamelessly throw around Anglicisms and make yourself look like a sycophantic literary snob, at least do it properly. Otherwise, just stick to your own language. It worked for Goethe, and Kant, and Marx, and Nietzsche...
12. March
Beautiful weather. Not much incentive to work on papers. Today's realization: Ich bin eitel. How do you crush a bad habit?
Also, while procrastinating today, I randomly stumbled across a Fox News video headline online that helped reaffirm how truly insidious Fox can be. The video was about a young couple--"Christian camp counselors", of course--who were "brutally" shot to death in 2004 at "point blank range" (great mind-numbing buzzwords that they tended to emphasize a lot) while lying on a random beach somewhere. The news moderator posed the question that was on everyone's mind: "is it possible that they were murdered because of their Christian beliefs?" They then turned to "Fox News Criminal Analyst" Rod Wheeler (who, in a brilliantly calculated display of political correctness, was a member of a racial minority). Wheeler of course confirmed the alarming idea that this poor couple was hunted down because of their "strong Christian faith", citing the fact that driftwood with "satanic etchings" had been found near the murder site. In the interest of balance, they turned to a "Forensic Psychiatrist" who emphasized that it was possible but not definitive that the crime was religiously motivated, but by the time they got to him, all the good Christians had most likely turned off their televisions and entered their bunkers. I'm sorry if this seems like an offensive analysis, but the psychological manipulation here was just so thinly veiled that it's sickening. The only good news: Fox didn't go so far as to try to link the satanic etchings to Al Qaeda (aka "Saddam Hussein").
In other news, Barack Obama is a hypocritical lackey of the Chicago "political machine" (another buzzword) and a "left-of-center, doctrinaire liberal" (*cringe*). Just to prove how unbiased he is, the Chicago Tribune columnist they were interviewing, who was offering a "hometown perspective" on Obama, threw the senator a bone, saying that Obama "has mentioned ethics" at different points during his political career ("mentioned", mind you, but not necessarily "followed"). The implicit message, of course, is that Republicans are all free-thinking, ingenuous politicians who see it as their moral imperative to operate outside of the "political machine". I'm convinced.
7. March
In the interest of my own further education, I was able to attend two hearings today at the Amtsgericht. (I naturally thought of [kieffera] and all our tedious hours devoted to Mock.) Although I've never been party to any of the day-to-day goings on in American courtrooms, and although I imagine that even American hearings aren't nearly as glorious as TV and mock trial would have me believe, I did notice a few major differences in style while observing the continental legal system in action. The judges are far more active, pose questions, make a few jokes now and then, and are responsible for deciding not only the punishment, but also the facts of the case, as there is no jury. The hearings sort of devolved into a discussion between the judge, the state attorney, the defense attorney, and the expert witness. The burden of justice basically falls on the intellectuals in the courtroom. According to my law-student roommate, it is typical for German that a strong dialogue exists between academics and the legal profession. Another major trend is that they try to dole out fines and punishment based on the culprit's ability to pay. They ask a few questions about his income and expenses and from that, they end up assigning a daily sum of X amout to be paid off for Y number of days.
At one point, they had to decide on a condign punishment for a guy who'd (drunkenly?) crashed into a BMW at 4am on Christmas Eve morning. An approximate reproduction of the conversation between the judge and the state attorney (the defendant was, of course, present the whole time):
Judge: "Hmm. How does 1,000 euro sound?"
Attorney: "Yeah, that sounds reasonable."
Judge: "And then I suppose he can have his license back."
Attorney: "Right."
Judge (to defendant): "Does that sound all right to you?"
Defendant: "Sure."
As if that weren't enough excitement for one day, I was also in a "youth arrest facility" designed to carry out short-term rehabilitative arrest for sentences of up to four weeks. ([garrecht], I thought of you.) There were no metal detectors, they let us walk through with all of our backpacks, we had to dodge kids playing ping-pong and reading in the library. They even let the kids out alone to head to the dentist or hospital, if necessary. If someone flies the coop, they give him 24 hours and hope he decides to come back--only after the grace period is up do they call the police. The place was, admittedly, "the most liberal of this type of facility in Germany"--but still, I was stunned.
5. March
Menschenrechtsvertraeglichkeitspruefunge